June 13th 11:50am US/Eastern Time (5:50pm Central European Time)
Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich- Group C
Result: Italy 1 - Romania 1
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon superbly saved Adrian Mutu's penalty with nine minutes remaining to keep the world champions' UEFA EURO 2008™ hopes alive as the Azzurri and Romania battled out a breathless draw in Zurich.
Buffon dived to his left to block the ACF Fiorentina striker's stinging drive with his arm and foot after Christian Panucci had held back Daniel Niculae in the area. Defeat would have left Italian ambitions on a knife-edge but in a free-flowing match they delivered a perfect response to Mutu's 55th-minute opener as Panucci levelled a minute later. It salvaged a crucial point, which kept Italy in Group C contention before their reprise of the FIFA World Cup final against France on Thursday when Romania play the Netherlands.
